


Fireplace Memories

by Nova16



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Bonding, I am open to constructive criticism, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Not Their Melody but some references, Please don't be afraid to point out any mistakes I've made!, Poor Wild, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, Wild's family, fireside stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nova16/pseuds/Nova16
Summary: After finding themselves in Time's Hyrule in the middle of winter the gang decides to hole up at Lon Lon Ranch. But while curled up by the fire and sharing stories Wild starts to remember something from his past long before he found the Master Sword.Merry Christmas to my lovely readers! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Relationships: Link (Legend of Zelda) & Everyone, Wild (Linked Universe) & Everyone
Comments: 5
Kudos: 180





	Fireplace Memories

They ended up in Time’s era in the middle of winter—just in time for the solstice actually. It was a cold and difficult journey to Lon Lon Ranch in the few feet of snow on the ground and the blizzard raging overhead. Especially since they had just been traveling through Four’s Hyrule sometime in the middle of a particularly warm summer.

Wild had been worried for both the Veteran and the Sailor since they wore so little in comparison to the others and loaded them up with as many cold-resistant elixirs and ruby jewelry as he had available to him. He offered Legend his Snow quill trousers because he knows from experience frostbite is no joke but the pink-haired hero was adamant about not wearing them.

Legend’s teeth were chattering as he replied. “Not—not unt-til I get-t a hand wri-written apology from Hylia hers-s-self for all—all the shit-t she’s put me thr-through.”

Wild was reminded of the time Urbosa told him Zelda had once passed out in freezing cold waters praying to a goddess that refused to hear her and he didn’t push the pants subject. “Fair enough,” he said and tossed him his ruby circlet instead.

Needless to say, once Malon opened the door to her and Time’s home they all practically collapsed in front of the fireplace. The farmhouse was warm but not just because of the magnificent lifesaving fire he was warming his hands over. No, decorations were adorning the walls and every free surface.

Garlands of ivy and beautiful red flowers he had no name for. White painted wooden carvings of deer and other woodland creatures. And candles that filled the house with the scent of cinnamon.

There was something about the decorations that made him feel safe and comfortable.

Time was bringing out mounds of extra blankets for their snow-soaked party. “I thought you said you weren’t decorating this year?” He asked his wife who was busy making a big pot of boiling hot tea.

Sky almost melted when she gave him a glass and he held it up to his face to warm himself on the steam.

“I wasn’t, but you’ve been gone for so long that I just needed to keep myself busy so that my mind wouldn’t wonder about how much danger you were putting yourselves in.”

When he received his own cup from Malon he did the same as Sky and reveled in the fact that he could feel his nose again.

A loud booming voice came from the second story. “Don’t go letting her take all the credit for this!” Malon’s father Talon walked down the stairs with his arms also full of warm blankets and sheets. “I’ll have you know that girl is still too scared to reach the high places.”

Malon’s cheeks darkened as she whacked Talon lightly with her empty tray. “Oh, you!” Time’s laughter filled the air which then made him her second target. It did nothing to deter him smile though.

Talon looked fondly at his daughter and son-in-law as they playfully bickered all the way back to the kitchen. It was rare to see Time this happy and Wild was almost grateful for the snow.

Wild liked Talon. He was always such an enthusiastic listener when they told him stories of their adventures—no matter how much they tended to exaggerate them. Even Legend was warming up to him. Which was a miracle because the first time Malon introduced them to him Legend froze stiff and wouldn’t respond right away. It was like when Wild remembered something from his forgotten past.

Talon settled himself in his log armchair right next to the fireplace with a grunt. “Alright, lads. What have you boys been up to since the last time you were dropped on my doorstep? And don’t leave anything out! I wanna hear all about it.”

Warriors started to give him a basic rundown of what’s been going on but it sounded more like he was giving a battle report instead of a story so Wind jumped up and started narrating animatedly with both hands—his tea sloshing out of his cup in the process. Wild couldn’t help but join the others in laughing.

“We were surrounded by 10—no! By 15 Wizzrobes all from different eras! They had us pinned down with their unrelenting magic attacks. I thought we were done for but then!” He paused for dramatic effect. “ _Bam!_ From out of nowhere Wolfie appears and just starts tearing them to shreds!”

From underneath his pile blankets, Twilight was quietly chuckling to himself. Twi had been off in the woods scouting ahead when they attacked. There really were only 10 Wizzrobes and they weren’t being pinned down too much but the support from behind did help them greatly.

The night carried on like that: full of laughter and the retelling of old war stories. It was such a warm feeling with all of them gathered around the fireplace like one big happy family.

Wild was watching the flames dance while Legend was telling them this one joke he once told a kid from a far off country that was supposed to be the funniest thing in the world but after a while, their voices and laughter faded away and Wild could only hear the crackling of the fire.

His memories rarely came to him gently but they came on quick so he never got the chance to warn anyone it was happening.

Link raced his little sister down the stairs. He knew it wasn’t fair since he was seven and she was five and his legs were longer than hers but he could smell his mom cooking his favorite breakfast and he just _had_ to be the first one to the table.

Although, he ran just a little too fast and missed the table completely. He had to slide to a halt and double back but by that time his sister was already in her chair.

“Ha! I beat you!” She stuck her tongue out at him and he pouted the whole way to his chair. Their mom whacked him upside the head with her spoon.

“How many times have I told you two? No running in the house! Especially not with all of the glass decorations your grandmother painstakingly made long before you were even thought of.”

Both Link and his sister looked down at their plates sheepishly. Their mom huffed before giving them a warm smile. “Well, so long as you both know it was wrong.” She pinched his cheek lightly. “We can’t have such sour faces on the Solstice, now can we?”

Their mom piled their plates full of potatoes and eggs and spiced meat. He had scarfed it half down before he noticed the empty chair at the end of the table. Link swallowed his mouthful of food. “Dad’s not working again today, is he?”

His mom nodded. “He is.”

“But it’s the Solstice!” His sister whined.

“Yeah! If you get the day off today why can’t he?” He asked but he already knew what his mom’s answer would be. It was such an honor working for the King even more so to be lucky enough to be a part of His Majesty’s royal guard.

His father had tried to explain how important it was to be a knight from the moment he could hold a sword. Link couldn’t remember learning to wield a sword but apparently, his skill with a blade was uncommon for someone as young as him. The only reason he wasn’t living in a barracks training to be a soldier now was that his mom threatened to take both him and his sister away and leave Castle Town. Not even the King would be able to fight that because until they were old enough to make decisions for themselves children belonged with their mothers.

He didn’t resent his father for wanting Link to train hard but he also didn’t want to leave Castle Town. All of his friends were here and no one made bread better than the old baker down the street.

“He promised he would be home before you went to bed tonight.”

“But that means he’s going to miss the festival!” Tears were starting to pool in his sister's eyes and if Link wasn’t such a big boy he might have cried too. Their mom gently cleaned his sister’s face with a napkin.

“Well, then we’ll just have to have our own little celebration here at home. Just the four of us. How does that sound?” The disappointment Link felt didn’t go away but he nodded anyway. At least his father wouldn’t get to miss _all_ the fun. “Alright now go upstairs and clean up, we have a big day ahead of us.”

He and his sister brightened up a bit and went to race back up the stairs before their mom scolded them again about running in the house. “Sorry, mom!” They yelled halfway up the stairs.

The Solstice was one of Link’s favorite days of the year. Not only was there so much snow on the ground for his sister and him to play in but the food at the festival was the best in the whole world. He just wished he had a bigger stomach so he could try it all.

Their mother gave them both a small bag of rupees and let them go explore only after pinky swearing to never let go of one another.

With an overjoyed squeal, his sister grabbed his hand and started to drag him over to a game stall. It was an archery game. She was too small to see over the stall counter but Link saw the reason she dragged him over. Hanging from the top of the stall was a little brown bear with a big pink ribbon tied around its neck.

“Excuse me, mister. How much is it to play?”

Even as a seven-year-old Link could see this wasn’t a nice man. He gave Link one look and waved him away. “Shoo kid, come back when you’re big enough to hold a bow.” Link glared at the man. Why did bigger people always make fun of his height? Who cares if he was shorter than the other boys his age it wasn’t his fault!

He scanned the stall and found the little sign that said: 5 RUPEES FOR 5 ARROWS and slammed a blue rupee on the counter determinedly. The man rolls his eyes and pockets the rupee. He hands Link a bow and the five arrows with a snort.

His little sister gave him the biggest smile.

“Outer ring is worth one point. Middle is worth three and a bull’s-eye is five. If you manage to get 20 points then you get to pick a prize.” The guy was speaking to him like he thought Link would only get a few points but if his sister wanted that bear then his sister was going to get that bear.

He drew his first arrow. The center was a lot smaller than the outer two rings and unless you were a skilled marksman the chances of hitting it four times was low.

He would never tell his dad but he liked shooting a bow more than swinging a sword.

 _Thwack!_ Dead center. The stall owner fell off his stool and grumbled something about beginner’s luck. Link watched in satisfaction as his face grew redder and redder as each of Link’s arrows found their mark.

“25 points,” Link said with a cheeky grin. “I’d like that bear up there, mister.” The stall owner glowered at him but he didn’t flinch.

“Why you little—!”

“Now, don’t go getting your pants in a twist, Mason. The kid won fair and square,” an older man scolded the stall owner who just noticed the small crowd that had gathered. The stall owner clicked his tongue and grumbled something foul under his breath. He tossed the bear at Link who caught it with ease.

“Now, get on with you! No pros allowed at this stall!” Some of the adults stuck around to tease the man for being shown up by a kid while a few older kids congratulated Link on showing old Mason who was boss. It seemed like they had been scammed out of a few rupees themselves.

The look on his little sister’s face when he presented the bear to her was well worth the effort it took to get it.

They ran around the snow-covered marketplace for hours playing games and trying all sorts of new food. The nice old baker had a new type of fruit tart that he was trying out made with wild berries and hearty durian. Link bought one to be nice but he would never forget how unpleasant it smelled.

At one point his sister tried to get him to sign up for a sword-fighting tournament in the square. Though, when he went to put his name in the soldier running the tournament refused to let him participate. He told Link to come back when he was older just like the archery game runner told him.

“Can’t have a kid gettin’ injured. Bad for business, you know? Run along. I’m sure your mother’s lookin’ for ya.”

Link didn’t fight this one—not since there was a long line behind him of big angry-looking men waiting to put their names on the list.

His sister bought him an apple turnover to cheer him up afterward.

Their mom found them again when the sun was getting ready to set meaning the festival was going to come to a close soon. She listened to all their stories of their day with rapt attention. She laughed along with them when his sister told her of the juggler they saw that was able to juggle five lit torches. “And he didn’t get burned once, mama!” But once they got to the part about the sword fighting tournament her smile fell. She frowned at Link for a second before ruffling his hair affectionately.

“When you’re older you’ll be able to make those men eat their words. You just have to work hard to grow big and strong until then.” That’s what she always told him. What everybody told him.

You’ll understand when you’re older. You can do that when you’re older. He was already seven, how much older did they expect him to be?

The festival ended like it did every year. The King came down from the castle to make an appearance. He gave a speech in the center of the town about togetherness or something. Link and his sister weren’t paying attention, they were too busy craning their necks trying to see if they could see their dad among the guards.

Link had his sister climb on his back to give her the advantage to see over people’s heads. After a few minutes, she let out a happy gasp.

“I see him!” She yelled and started waving enthusiastically. Almost knocking Link off-balance in the process. “Daddy! Daddy! Good job at protecting the Mr. King Sir! We’ll see you at home!” Their mom scolded them both as the people around them chuckled quietly.

“Honestly, you two.” Her face was red from more than just the cold but Link gave her a big smile as opposed to an apology.

Link’s teeth were chattering and he couldn’t feel his toes by the time they made it back to their house. He and his sister both warmed themselves by the fire under a mound of blankets. Their mom heated them up glasses of warm milk and honey which Link held up to his face to warm up his nose.

They ate dinner that night huddled up next to the fire and after dinner, their mom told them stories about the hero from thousands of years ago when the Calamity Ganon first threatened Hyrule.

His sister fell asleep on him midway through the story and Link’s eyes were getting heavy too but he forced himself to stay awake longer because he wanted to see his dad come home.

Link had his head resting against his mom’s legs and the soft cadence of her voice mixed with the warmth of the fire had him closing his eyes. He was somewhere between sleep and awake when he heard the door open and close. Footsteps came closer to the fireplace.

“Already asleep?” His dad whispered in his low voice.

His mom hummed in response while she ran her fingers through Link’s hair. “They played hard today.”

“I heard Link tried to sign up for the tournament today. It’s a shame, he could have shown those boys a thing or two.” There was laughter in his dad’s voice but not his mom’s.

“How many times do I have to tell you to let Link be a child? Boys his age shouldn’t even be able to hold a sword properly.” The room was quiet for a few moments and the only thing Link could hear was the fire. His dad broke the silence with a sigh.

“You’re right, my dear. I’m sorry. He’s just so talented I tend to forget just how young he really is.” Link didn’t hear much else because sleep finally sunk its claws in him and his consciousness drifted away.

Wild jerked and blinked a couple of times to bring himself back from the memory. Something warm and wet touched his cheeks and when he brought a hand up to check what it was his fingers came back soaked with tears. He quickly cleaned his face and shoved down the painful feelings hoping no one noticed.

He must not have been out for very long because Wind was going on about a time Tetra had shot him out of a cannon and Talon was laughing along very animatedly.

Wild wasn’t so fortunate that no one had witnessed his episode because Twilight, Sky, and Legend all were looking at him with varying looks of worry. He gave them the best smile he could muster and shrugged his shoulders.

In one of his memories he got back Zelda told him his dad had been a knight so he at least knew he hadn’t been an orphan but after recovering that memory he wasn’t so sure not being an orphan was a good thing.

Now he knew he had a sister. When Wind had been talking about his sister Wild had a brief recollection but wasn’t sure if he was just grasping at straws or not. And his mother…before now he couldn’t remember his mother’s face but it looked so much like his own.

After he rescued Zelda they both had to wonder if losing his memories had been a blessing in disguise after all because now he wouldn’t have to remember the faces of people he would never see again. He would have never had to carry the guilt of their deaths on his shoulders.

His sister would have been 15 when the Calamity attacked. Had she lived through the attack? Had his mother? Did they both fall victim to the guardians that stormed Castle Town a hundred years ago? He would likely never know the answer to any of those questions and that’s what hurt so badly.

Wild had a family once. He looked around the room again at Four and Hyrule curled up closest to the fire intermittently questioning the accuracy of Wind’s story. To Time and Malon flirting in the kitchen. Warriors had thrown his head back in laughter as Wind’s feet got caught in a blanket and he tripped back but never stopped talking the whole while.

The atmosphere was so much like the memory he had of his family that he had no trouble figuring out why he’d remembered it now.

_A family, huh?_

A bit of the pain started to subside being surrounded by his brothers-in-arms. It would never be enough to replace the family that he lost and barely remembered but somehow without him knowing, they had crept into that empty part of his heart and took up residence.

He couldn’t be sure if he would ever remember his actual family in full so for now, he let himself relish in the company of their band of misfits. In the company of his new family.


End file.
